292 PRESERVATION BRIEF
Vol. 6 Spring 2015
Clemson University/College of Charleston Graduate Program in Historic Preservation
292 PRESERVATION BRIEF
A NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR
CLEMSON UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON GRADUATE PROGRAM IN HISTORIC PRESERVATION ANNUAL ISSUE: 2015 VOLUME 6 PROGRAM DIRECTOR DR. CARTER L. HUDGINS
EDITOR SHANNON DEVLIN COPY EDITOR LAUREN HOOPES LAYOUT/DESIGN SARAH SANDERS FEATURE WRITERS AMBER ANDERSON KATIE DYKENS BRENT FORTENBERRY TAYLOR JOHNSTON JUSTIN SCHWEBLER MICHELLE THOMPSON MEREDITH WILSON LAURA LEE WORRELL
EXPLORE
GRADUATE PROGRAM ONLINE AT: HTTP://WWW.CLEMSON.EDU/CAAH/ HISTORIC-PRESERVATION/ THE
FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK: GRADUATE PROGRAM IN HISTORIC PRESERVATION CLEMSON & COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON ON INSTAGRAM: MSHP_GRAD_PROGRAM
AND ON TWITTER: @MSHPGRADPROGRAM
CONTACT US: MARY MARGARET SCHLEY ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATOR MSCHLEY@CLEMSON.EDU 292 MEETING STREET CHARLESTON, SC 29401 P: 843.937.9596 F.943.937.9613
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The 2015 edition of 292 Preservation Brief appears just as our First Year students depart for summer internships and our graduating class sets it sights on new jobs and the challenges they will embrace in the year ahead. The close of the spring semester, always hectic, is a season for well-deserved congratulations. You will see why in the pages that follow. Our students took on a long list of significant projects during the year, and I am pleased to direct your attention to some of them here. The cover for the 2015 edition of 292 Preservation Brief, composed of images that reflect the thesis topics the MSHP class of 2015 pursued, reveals the range of interests, and the range of professional skills, this class expressed throughout its studies in Charleston. Follow the images on the cover from left to right and from top to bottom to follow this year’s thesis topics: (1) St Michael’s Church is one of hundreds of historic buildings in Charleston threatened by rising sea levels; (2) brick fortification walls protected colonial Charleston; (3) mental asylums constructed between 1835 and 1900 are unstudied and unprotected in most states; (4) analysis of mortar samples from Molana Abbey in Ireland helped sort out its evolution; (5) analysis of Charleston interiors revealed 50 shades of beige; (6) Drayton Hall’s earliest furniture can now tell its story; (7) 3D modeling can support the stewardship of historic buildings like the Nathaniel Russell House; (8) public commemoration of Denmark Vesey and the slave rebellion he planned in 1822 reflect twentieth-century Charleston’s changing racial attitudes; (9) Charleston’s Board of Architectural Review had less to say about buildings along Calhoun Street than some remember it did; (10) bricks from the Grove Plantation are woven into many of Charleston houses; (11) there is more to James Madison’s Montpelier than his house; (12) Frank Lloyd Wright sweated the details of the bathrooms at Falling Water. Justin Schwebler’s examination of Bermuda Stone in Charleston (13) is featured on page 14. We have long relied heavily on electronic means, one of them this newsletter whose principal means of dissemination is through our website, to spread our news. We have blogged during summer research trips and have been Facebook friends with many of you for years, but we want to strengthen our electronic links to you so look for us to rely on social media more in the future. Watch for the launch of a year-round blog in the fall as well as Instagram posts. The links to our Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter feeds appear on the left side of this page. Maintaining our social media links is one of the tasks Mary Margaret Schley inherited from Allisyn Miller Morgan when she succeeded Allisyn in January. We all cheered when Allisyn married the coach of her dreams, but it goes without saying that we miss her and Austin who coaches baseball at Texas A&M. Come see us!
Carter L. Hudgins
FEATURE STORIES PAGE 8: A GEORGIAN JEWEL: DOCUMENTING AND PRESERVING POMPION HILL CHAPEL
PAGE 4: PRESERVING MODERNISM AT CLEMSON UNIVERSITY
PAGE 5: PRESERVATIONISTS AT WORK: CONSERVING BATTERY JASPER
PAGE 10: THE PROGRESSIVE CLUB: REDISCOVERING A CIVIL RIGHTS ERA TOUCHSTONE
PAGE 12: KKBE CEMETERY: A FAMILY DIVIDED
PAGE 7: BERMUDA STONE IN WHITE POINT GARDENS
PROGRAM SPOTLIGHTS PAGE 4: HELLO...AND GOODBYE... PAGE 6: 2014 CHARLES E. PETERSON PRIZE PAGE 6: 2014 HALS CHALLENGE PAGE 14: 2015 THESIS TOPICS PAGE 15: SUMMER DIASPORA PAGE 16: PRESERVATION ON THE ROAD PAGE 18: ALUMNI NEWS
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HELLO... & GOODBYE... Following the end of the fall semester, the MSHP program said good-bye to our long-time program coordinator Allisyn Miller, and hello to her successor, Mary Margaret Schley. Allisyn played an instrumental role in shaping the program during her tenure. Allisyn relocated to Texas with her husband following their wedding in November. Mary Margaret, who is no stranger to the program, joined us immediately after the New Year. Mary Margaret left her position as publishing editor at Arcadia Publishing to accept the position of program coordinator. We are very excited to have her as part of our team.
PRESERVING MODERNISM
LAURA LEE WORRELL, CLASS OF 2015
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During the 2014 fall semester, the MSHP program initiated a new course, Preserving Modernism. The inaugural class of seven students, led by Professor Amalia Leifeste, performed a mitigation study of a window replacement project at Lowry Hall. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Lowry Hall has housed offices, laboratories and classrooms for the engineering department since its construction in 1958. The class provided an unmatched opportunity to engage what is emerging as historic preservation most significant challenges, saving important mid-twentieth century modernist buildings. Clemson and the South Carolina State Historic Preservation Office agreed that evaluation of the replacement of historic windows at Lowry Hall by MSHP students as an educational exercise would be an acceptable component of a mitigation plan. As part of this investigation, students evaluated the university’s planning and preservation protocols and created public education posters that describe steps to be taken
in evaluating recommendations replacement of historic windows.
for
After reviewing Clemson’s Preservation Master Plan, MSHP students evaluated the current state of preservation practices as applied to modernist architecture, a research step that provided an important baseline for making comparisons between local and national practices. A history of Lowry Hall and a compilation of standard cyclical maintenance procedures for aging mid-twentieth century buildings provided additional comparative data. Finally, following a review of sustainability practices, procedures, and energy studies, the class computed the energy effectiveness of Lowry’s new windows. The report prepared by the class concluded that National Register of Historic Places recognition makes Lowry Hall’s significance to the place of modernist design on the Clemson University campus and South Carolina quite clear. Students also concluded that maintaining the integrity of Lowry Hall’s original design and appearance remains an important preservation goal.
preservationists at work:
conserving battery jasper KATIE DYKENS, CLASS OF 2015 In the spring of 2015, a group of second year students had the opportunity to work with the staff of the Warren Lasch Conservation Center as one of their course electives. The Warren Lasch Conservation Center team works to conserve a variety of objects, the most notable being the H.L. Hunley, a submarine dating from the 1860s. The conservation class focused on Battery Jasper, located at Fort Moultrie on Sullivan’s Island. Battery Jasper, an Endicott battery, was completed in 1898. Endicott batteries were constructed in response to an 1886 report spearheaded by Secretary of War William Endicott which indicated that major changes were needed in the United States’ approach to harbor defense. Like all Endicott batteries, Battery Jasper is a large reinforced concrete structure with earthworks. When in use, the battery’s 10 inch shells were loaded from magazines on the first floor up into the large guns located on the second floor, which was open to the air. The guns at Battery Jasper rested on disappearing mountings, which dropped below the line of sight from the water when not firing. Endicott batteries had become obsolete by the Second World War. The conservation of these massive structures is a continuing preservation challenge. Managed by the National Park Service, a significant portion of Battery Jasper is open to the public. While none of the guns remain, portions of the battery are in excellent condition. The metal portions of the battery, however, are in need of conservation as continual exposure to moisture and salts from the nearby ocean has resulted in a loss of protective coating and some corrosion. Led by Warren Lasch staff members Stéphanie Cretté, Amy Elizabeth Uebel, and Liisa Näsänen, the students first set out to determine the environmental conditions present at the battery. The class then performed a conditions assessment on various metal components of the battery to determine what qualities of corrosion and coating loss were present and to prioritize their work.
with a superheated steam system and then recoat them with a two-step process involving an epoxy primer and a polyurethane finish coat. This approach has already been successfully used on some of the cannon at Fort Moultrie and therefore seemed appropriate for the environmental conditions present at the battery.
The group determined that the best course of action was to remove the existing paint from the metal objects 5
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2014 Charles E. Peterson Prize: Blacklock House, Charleston, South Carolina
Brittany McKee and Megan Funk (Class of 2014) accept the HABS Charles E. Peterson Prize Honorable Mention on behalf of the 2014 graduating class.
Featured above are measure drawings of the Blacklock House submitted as part of the prize winning set. The complete set is housed at the Library of Congress.
2014 HALS Challenge: Documenting Landscapes of the New Deal AMBER ANDERSON, CLASS OF 2015 In the spring of 2014, students from the graduating class of 2015 received Honorable Mentions for their four short-format history submissions to the Historic American Landscape Survey for the 2014 HALS Challenge. The theme of the 2014 Challenge, “Documenting Landscapes of the New Deal,” encouraged the recordation of public works projects created during the Great Depression. Many of these projects, such as those documented by the MSHP students, were funded by the Works Progress Administration and constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The students in Andrew Kohr’s Cultural Landscapes course conducted research and two-dimensional documentation of four South Carolina State Parks: Poinsett, Table Rock, Edisto Beach, and Lake Greenwood. Students visited these parks, located throughout the state, and created photographic documentation as well as hand-measured drawings of 6 6
the parks and their prominent built features, such as cabins and dams. While creating these short-format histories, students also worked alongside individuals from the South Carolina State Park Service and the South Carolina Department of Archives and History in order to conduct historic research on the development of these landscapes.
White Point Garden: An Archaeological Investigation JUSTIN SCHWEBLER, CLASS OF 2015 In January 2015, the “Walled City Task Force” conducted an archaeological excavation at White Point Garden to uncover the remains of a fortified sea wall thought to have been constructed in 1769. MSHP Program Director Carter Hudgins, Katherine Pemberton of Historic Charleston Foundation, Nic Butler from the Charleston County Public Library, and Martha Zierden from the Charleston Museum organized the dig. Through previous research, Nic Butler had previously uncovered the history of a 1768 and 1769 section of fortified sea wall that was constructed in order to protect the southern end of the Charleston peninsula. The wall ran parallel along much of present day South Battery Street, bordering White Point Garden. In the crushed oyster shell pathways, a narrow row of brick and stone rubble had begun to appear on the surface. This long row of brick was interpreted by the team to be the top of the 1769 sea wall. The area was determined to be an excellent candidate for the placement of a few small test pits to compare against Nic Butler’s research.
late nineteenth century construction. On day two of the investigation the team placed two test pits on either side of what was assumed to be the intersection of the stone faced wall, and the later narrow brick wall. This exposed the joint where the two walls meet allowing the archaeologists to identify which wall had been constructed first. By looking at the walls and the limited amount of artifacts, it was clear that the large stone faced wall had been constructed in the early nineteenth century, while the narrow brick wall was likely a mid-nineteenth century retaining wall. The early stone wall was back filled with tons of massive ballast stones, brick rubble, and Bermuda stone fragments. Some of this fill was fixed with mortar to the wall itself indicating that this was intended to be a substantial and strong sea wall.
Due to the presence of brick and Bermuda stone in the wall, the team concluded that the 1769 fortified sea wall was likely damaged and destroyed by hurricanes in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. The large During the first day of the dig, the team uncovered brick stone wall was a later repair and rebuilt of the sea wall rubble, large Bermuda stone fragments, and the faces that once defended the southern end of Charleston’s of two different walls that appeared to be on the same peninsula. The dig was successful in identifying the line orientation. One was a stone faced wall backed with of the 1769 fortified sea wall and also understanding the rubble and the other a thin brick wall which is likely a evolution of Charleston’s fortified sea walls.
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A Georgian Jewel DOCUMENTING AND PRESERVING POMPION HILL CHAPEL
BRENT FORTENBERRY, CLASS OF 2016 Sitting majestically on the banks of the Huger River, Pompion Hill Chapel is the pinnacle of Lowcountry Georgian Anglican Chapel of Ease architecture. The Flemish bond brick edifice was erected between 1763 and 1765 by master mason William Axson who left his maker’s mark on both the northern and southern portals. The building boasts a jerkinhead roof, which retains much of its original Welsh slate. The interior fittings remain largely intact with brick pavers, simple pew benches, as well as a raised and projecting chancel to the east. The western end culminates in a wine stem pulpit translated from Batty Langley’s Workmans’ Treasury of Designs–a fashionable metropolitan design fitted on the “rural” western edge of the growing British Empire. Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) researcher Thomas T. Waterman visited the site in June 1939 and 8
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recorded the building’s exterior and interior through a series of photographs. The property was listed on the National Register on April 15, 1970. Since 1970 architectural historians have regularly visited, but these scholars had only completed field sketches of the structure. To add to this body of knowledge, the Fall 2015 Investigation, Documentation, and Conservation course, led by Professors Amalia Leifeste, Kristopher King, Frances Ford, and Andrew Kohr, undertook an interdisciplinary investigation of the building and the churchyard. With King and Leifeste, students completed a set of architectural line drawings; students also investigated Pompion’s buildings systems creating a preliminary Historic Structure Report. With Kohr, students created a landscape survey of the property. Finally with Professor Frances Ford, students documented and repaired the surviving stones in the churchyard. At the end of the semester the class presented their work and
findings to the Pompion Hill Vestry at Historic Charleston Foundation. This spring, the compiled Historic Structures Report will be submitted to the Vestry. Looking ahead, this summer two interns from the MSHP program will work with the Architectural Research Division of the Clemson University Warren Lasch Conservation Center to document Pompion Hill using laser scanning. The resulting data will be used to create a 3D model of the property for future research and preservation maintenance of the site. Additionally, Warren Lasch staff will complete a ground-penetrating radar survey of the churchyard in search of graves that no longer retain their markers. Together the work completed this past fall and the upcoming work this summer will provide a better picture of the material history of Pompion Hill Chapel. It will enrich our understanding not just of the history of Anglican buildings and religious practices of the eighteenth-century Lowcountry but also chart a course for this site’s preservation for future generations.
FEATURED ABOVE IS THE MSHP CLASS OF 2016 ACCOMPANIED BY ASSISTANT PROFESSOR AMALAIA LEIFESTE (FAR RIGHT) FOLLOWING THE COMPLETION OF THE FIELD WORK ASSOCIATED WITH THE MEASURED DRAWING PORTION
POMPION HILL. MEASURED OCTOBER OF 2015.
OF THEIR DOCUMENTATION PROJECT AT DRAWINGS WERE COMPLETED IN
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REDISCOVERING THE PROGRESSIVE CLUB A MONUMENT OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT MEREDITH WILSON AND MICHELLE THOMPSON CLASS OF 2016 Situated along a rural stretch of River Road on Johns Island, South Carolina—one of the many sea islands that are the traditional home of the people of the Gullah-Geechee Nation—sits the unassuming ruins of the Progressive Club Sea Island Center. Many passersby zoom along wondering why such an unsightly building still stands, if they give the structure any thought at all. What they may not realize is that these tumbledown ruins are a remarkable piece of Civil Rights history of exceptional national importance. In 1948, Esau Jenkins and Joe Williams, two Sea Island residents, founded the Sea Island Progressive Club to respond to the financial, legal, and social needs of the local African American community. The men raised funds for completion of their building, and from 1962 to 1963 Esau Jenkins oversaw the construction of the humble concrete masonry building. The structure consisted of a community grocery store, a multipurpose recreation center, and several rooms for out-of-town visitors. The Club provided childcare for working parents, jobs for unemployed young adults, and recreational and extracurricular activities for local adolescents. The building also served as a community gathering space for events such as weddings, church picnics, and musical festivals. For the next two-and-a-half decades, the Progressive Club was an invaluable fixture on Johns Island and throughout the wider Sea Island area. Most important however, the building served as a Citizenship School during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. 10 10
Jenkins, along with other prominent Civil Rights leaders Septima Clark and Bernice Robinson, worked to develop the concept of Citizenship Schools which spread throughout the south in the 1960s. Citizenship Schools worked to teach African Americans the skills they needed to pass the discriminatory literacy tests required to vote prior to the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. Between 1957 and 1960 alone, the number of registered voters on Johns Island tripled. Today, the Progressive Club ruins stand out as the only remaining structure specifically built to house a Citizenship School in South Carolina. In January, Professor Amalia Leifeste and her firstyear preservation studio class documented the current conditions of the Progressive Club ruins. Students hand-drafted measured drawings of the ruins. They identified conditions that most threatened the ruins. After several weeks of study and research, the class created a report that they presented to the current Progressive Club board members - including three of Jenkins’s descendants, Abe, Bill, and Elaine Jenkins. The report prescribes preservation treatments needed to stabilize the ruins and make the site safe for visitors. Two treatments were determined to be the best options for the site. It could become an “Activated Landscape” or a “Partial Reconstruction.” The “Activated Landscape” option involves stabilizing the ruins to serve as a landscape feature in a community garden or outdoor gathering space. “Partial Reconstruction” requires constructing a new building reusing salvaged parts of the existing ruins. The resulting report will help to inform the board on Progressive Club’s future. Historic Charleston Foundation will then help the board members raise funds to accomplish their vision. The Class of 2016 is honored to have been part of preserving this invaluable piece of South Carolina Civil Rights history. We hope the Progressive Club may once again be a force for positive social change on Johns Island. Sources: Botsch, Carol Sears. “Septima Poinsette Clark.” Aiken: University of South Carolina, 2000. www. usca.edu/aasc/clark.htm Davis, Townswend. Weary Feet, Rested Souls: A Guided History of the Civil Rights Movement. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1998. Esau Jenkins, “Letter from Esau Jenkins to Gedney Howe of the Antipoverty Program,” (January 12, 1965), Esau Jenkins Papers, 1963-2003, Avery Research Center. “Statement of Significance,” National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. “The Progressive Club, Charleston County (3377 River Rd., Johns Island).” National Register Properties in South Carolina.
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KKBE Cemetery: A Family Divided TAYLOR JOHNSTON, CLASS OF 2015 In the the spring spr pring semester of 2015, the Advanced Conservation C ons nsser erva vati va tio ti on Science class focused on the documentation, docu do umenttation, n,, iinvestigation, nves nv esti tiggation, and rehabilitation plan ti the Lopez family for th he Lope p z fa amiily section secction of the Kahal Kadosh sh Beth Elohim (KKBE) burial Eloh him (KK KKBE E) bu uri rial grounds groun unds in Charleston, So un SSouth uth th Carolina located 198 Coming Caro oli l na loc o ated d att 19 98 C omi ming ng SStreet. tree tr eet. ee t Founded Foun nde ded d in in 1749, 174 749, KKBE 74 KKB BE iss one of the oldest olde dest JJewish ewish congregations in i the the h United United d States. Stat St ates at es. Its es Its Coming Comi Co m ngg Street Cemetery is listed on the National Register of Historic His isto tori ricc Places and is considered the oldest surviving Jewish Plac Pl aces ac es and is co ons nsid id der ered ed the old ldes estt su es surv rviv rv ivin iv ingg Je in Jewi w sh wi cemetery ceme ce mete me tery te ry iin n th thee South. Sout So uth. ut h. In In 1764, 1764 17 64,, Isaac 64 Isaa Is aacc Da Costa aa Cos o ta conveyed con onve veye ve yed ye d family burial begin hiss fa hi fami mily ly b uria ur iaal ground grou gr ound ou nd to to KKBE KKBE ffor or ££70 70 tto o be begi gin gi n th thee congregation’s Reverend Moses Cohen, cong co ngre ng rega re gati ga tion ti on’s’s fi on firrst rstt cemetery. cem emet etter ery. y. Re R Reve vere ve rend re nd dM oses os es C ohen oh hen en, the first spiritual leader of KKBE was buried on the land sp piritual lead der f buriied d th he land d Costa’s Cohen’s burial in 1762 prior to Da Cost a’s’ conveyance. Coh hen’s’ b uriall the firstt known in iis th k i the th cemetery. t
cemeteries. The original KKBE burial grounds (conveyed by Da Costa) is the largest section of the cemetery. In installation 1841, reform practices, including the inst in nst stal alla al lati tion on of of KKBE’s an organ, created unrest within KKBE BE’s’ss ccongregation. ongr on greg gr egat eg atio at ion io n. Divergences from typical practice led d to a division div ivis isio is ion io n of congregation. members the synagogue synagogue and the congre regation. Some Som omee me memb mber mb erss er KKBE congregation known left K KBE KB E an aand nd established a ne new w co con ngregaation kno nown no wn as SShearit heear arit it IIsrael. srae ael.l. In 11842, ae 842, 84 2, SShearit hearit IIsrael srael es eestablished tablishe hed he da cemetery next KKBE’s separate new w ce eme meteery r n eextt to KKB ex K KBE’ss ccemetery. KBE KB emete teery. ry To o separa ate th thee Shearit brick two o burial bu uriial grounds, gro oun unds, Shea eari ea r t Is IIsrael rael eerected rected d a tall br ric ickk masonry maso sonr nryy wa nr wall.
Before Befo Be fore fo re tthe he ccongregational ongr on greg gr egat eg atio at io ona nall division, divi di visi vi sion si on,, David on Davi vid vi d Lopez, Lope Lo pez, pe z, Jr., Jr. r.,, a previous member KKBE congregation, builder, prev pr evio ev ious io us m embe em berr of K be KBE KB E co cong ngre ng rega re gati ga tion ti on,, bu on buil ilde il der, de r, aand nd leader le lead ead ader er in in the the Charleston Char Ch arle ar lest est ston on ccommunity, ommu om muni mu nity ni ty,, married ty marr ma rrie rr ied ie d Catherine Cath Ca ther th erin er inee in Hinton off Ed Edgefi eld, Carolina, 1832. When Hint Hi nton nt on no Edge gefi ge fiel fi eld el d SSouth d, outh ou uth C arol ar rol olin ina in na, in n 18 1832 832 32. W h n hen he the split, Lopez joined th he synagogue spli litt, tthe h L he opez ffamily amily join ined in ed Shearit congregation. Although married IIsrael’s srael’l’s congregati ion. A lth hough h Catherine Catheri h ine marri ied d a Jew, she was not Jewish and never offi cially converted to Jew officially Judaism. During their marriage, David and Catherine The cemetery consists of three historically separate had six children. Unfortunately, in 1843, four days after 12 12
delivering her sixth child, Catherine and the infant child died. According to Charleston death records, her second youngest child, Charles Hinton (b. January 27, 1843), died just about a month later of “consumption,” or tuberculosis. Because Catherine and her children were not considered Jewish, she and her children were not granted burial rights in Shearit Israel’s cemetery. In response, David purchased a small sliver of land adjacent to the cemetery and established a private family plot with its own entrance. The three cemeteries remained separate until KKBE and Shearit Israel reincorporated in 1866 and demolished the dividing wall in the cemetery. In the Lopez section, thirteen stone monuments line the path leading to a large crenellated stone and stucco gothic revival monument dedicated to Catherine, her infant, and Charles Hinton. It is believed that both children are buried with Catherine. No written documentation has been located relating to the monument and so the designer remains unknown. Although Lopez was a builder, it cannot be inferred that he is responsible for the monument’s construction. He did not design any buildings he is credited for building in Charleston. The monument’s stone and level of detail seem unique to Charleston. Because the monument’s stones differ in color and type in certain areas, it is believed to have been finished with limewash in a polychromatic schema. Unfortunately, much of the monument has suffered from modern re-stuccoing and Portland cement repairs. A large crack exists in the west tower and arch, as well as on the interior portion of the monument, evidence of major structural movement. The arched structure between the two towers seems to
be pushing the towers outward. Causes include settling, soil character, construction nearby, earthquakes, and hurricanes. All probably contributed to the outward force of the arch. To mitigate these issues, the class derived a number of solutions. The cemetery committee could reconstruct the entire monument in unreinforced masonry (with added sand coated fiberglass rods for wind and seismic reinforcement), concrete, or concrete masonry units (CMU) with a stucco veneer. The committee could also simply stabilize the monument and rebuild the left tower. Thirdly, they could construct a large and costly buttress with a steel frame and tie across the top of the monument. Finally, the committee could install two elegantly thin tie rods situated behind the arch and between the towers to support the towers and halt any further movement. While all these options serve to solve the problem in some shape or form, the class felt the thin tie rod option would function best structurally and aesthetically for the monument. Sources: Solomon Breibart, “The Jewish Cemeteries of Charleston,” Catalogue (Summer 1993): 8-9 KKBE website, http://www.kkbe.org/index.php?page=history Randi Serrins, Exploring the enigma of Catherine Lopez and her tomb, Charleston Mercury, accessed April 12, 2015, http://www. charlestonmercury.com/index.php/en/history/91-exploring-theenigma-of-catherine-lopez-and-her-tomb. KKBE website, http://www.kkbe.org/index.php?page=history
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THESIS TOPICS CLASS OF 2015 CLAIRE ACHTYL: The Structural and Material Evolution of
TAYLOR JOHNSTON: The Challenge of Balance: A Study of
Molana Abbey, Ballynatray Demesne, County Waterford, Ireland, Site WA037-011: A Mortar Composition Study combines gravimetric acid digestion with non-destructive testing to compare mortar samples from Molana Abbey to ascertain differences in material composition that reveal building campaigns, repairs, and modifications made to the abbey from the fourteenth to the nineteenth century.
the Recent History of the Board of Architecture Review and its Design Standards on the Calhoun Street Corridor in Charleston, South Carolina presents a case study of the Calhoun Street corridor, a main artery in peninsular Charleston. The thesis examines the principles and process that has guided Board of Architectural review of projects constructed along Calhoun Street between 1990 and 2015.
AMBER ANDERSON: The Analysis of a Secondary Space:
FRANCES PINTO: Brick Production at Grove Creek Plantation
Bathrooms at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater examines the original process of design and subsequent treatment of the six finished bathrooms at Fallingwater. Analysis of extensive archival material revealed the roles all parties played in the design of Fallingwater’s bathrooms as well the post-construction treatment of these secondary spaces.
examines brick production at Grove Creek Plantation and its parallel to the rise of brick making along the Cooper River during the antebellum era. This site, now an archaeological ruin, offers a unique opportunity to map the creation of a brick-making plantation that operated on an industrial scale.
SHANNON DEVLIN: “Nine Mahogany Tables...Two Marble Slabbs and Stands...and a Cow:” The First Generation Furniture of Drayton Hall examines the surviving furniture and recorded purchases John Drayton made to furnish Drayton Hall. The furniture represents elite eighteenth-century consumer culture and eighteenth-century furnishing standards.
JACKIE DON: A Posture of Defence: Analysis of a City’s Brick Walls assembles a large sample of bricks from Charleston’s seventeenth and eighteenth-century walled fortifications for further study and identification. Application of a comprehensive battery of tests resulted in identification of sources for early bricks used in walled fortifications throughout Charleston. ALISON DUNLEAVY: 50 Shades of Beige: Comparative Paint Analysis of Three Federal Parlors in Charleston, South Carolina analyzes of the interior finishes of three late eighteenth to early nineteenth-century Federal-style parlors in Charleston ascertaining that the owners of the houses expressed a consistent preference for beige and other lighter shades from first occupation to the present. KATIE DYKENS: Commemoration and Controversy: The Memorialization of Denmark Vesey in Charleston, South Carolina examines the conflicted position occupied by Denmark Vesy in Charleston history. This thesis traces the public debate and public reaction to efforts to memorialize Vesey through four different monuments located in Charleston.
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LAUREN HOOPES: On the Periphery: A Survey of NineteenthCentury Asylums in the United States studies the creation and expansion of moral treatment era government-operated asylums in the United States through the years 18351900. At their beginning, asylums were a groundbreaking achievement in medicine and humanitarian action, and their preservation is important to the history of American medicine.
SARAH SANDERS: One Land, Two American Dreams: Rediscovering the Secondary duPont Narrative at James Madison’s Montpelier utilizes the treatment of the duPont legacy at Montpelier to explore the treatment of secondary narratives at historic sites throughout the United States. Through this study, an alternative value-based system is proposed in order to provide for a more holistic approach to evaluating significance. JUSTIN SCHWEBLER: The Forgotten Stone: A History and Analysis of Bermuda Stone in Charleston, South Carolina explores the history of Bermuda stone in Charleston in an effort understand why the material was brought to the city. Detailed photography, material definitions, and locations of Bermuda stone in Charleston serve as the field identification guide for future researchers. MELANIE WESTON: Rising Sea Levels and the Impact on National Historic Landmarks uses Boston and Charleston as case studies to examine the impacts rising sea levels will have on National Historic Landmarks. LAURA LEE WORRELL: Building Information Modeling (BIM): The Untapped Potential for Preservation Documentation and Management examines the applicability Building Information Modeling (BIM) to create a threedimensional user interface for tracking and storing historic and management documentation. The Nathaniel Russell House served as a case study for this thesis.
SUMMER DIASPORA As spring semester draws to a close, MSHP First Year students strike out for summer internships. In 2014, MSHP students completed internships that took them to Italy and Ireland, Kentucky, Maine, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and the District of Columbia. The class now departing for internships will spread themselves from coast to coast, working with organizations in California, Maine, Minnesota, New York, South Carolina, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia.
2015 SUMMER INTERNSHIPS JANE ASHBURN – Warren Lasch Conservation Center, Charleston, SC AMANDA BROWN – Bennett Preservation Engineering, Charleston, SC NAOMI DODDINGTON – Historic American Buildings Survey, Washington, D.C. JOHN EVANGELIST – Joseph Pell Lombardi Architecture, New York, NY BRENT FORTENBERRY – Warren Lasch Conservation Center, Charleston, SC JESSICA FORTNEY – Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, MN HALEY SCHRIBER - Stratford Hall Plantation, VA ANNA SIMPKINS – Ebey’s Landing National Historic Reserve, Coupeville, WA JEAN STOLL – Page & Turnball: Historic Preservation Architecture, San Francisco, CA MICHELLE THOMPSON – Historic Charleston Foundation, Charleston, SC RACHEL WALLING – Maine Preservation, Portland, ME MEGHAN WHITE – Mount Vernon, VA MEREDITH WILSON – Historic Charleston Foundation, Charleston, SC
2014 SUMMER INTERNSHIPS CLAIRE ACHTYL – Genoa Fieldwork + First Colony Foundation. Fieldwork, Molana Abbey, Ireland AMBER ANDERSON – Fallingwater, Mill Run, PA ALISON DUNLEAVY – Genoa Fieldwork + Historic Charleston Foundation, Charleston, SC SHANNON DEVLIN – Historic Charleston Foundation, Charleston, SC JACKIE DON – Central Park Conservancy, New York, NY KATIE DYKENS – Genoa Fieldwork + Drayton Hall, Charleston, SC LAUREN HOOPES – Germantown Historical Society + Hoopes Masonry and Restoration, Philadelphia, PA TAYLOR JOHNSTON – Amelia T. Handegan, Inc. Interiors, Charleston, SC FRANKIE PINTO – Genoa Fieldwork + Grove & Flagg Plantations, Cainhoy, SC SARAH SANDERS – James Madison’s Montpelier, Orange, VA JUSTIN SCHWEBLER – Newport Kentucky Historic Preservation Of ice, Newport, KY MELANIE WESTON – Maine Preservation, Portland, ME LAURA LEE WORRELL – Genoa Fieldwork + Historic American Buildings Survey, Ellis Island, NY
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PRESERVATION ON THE ROAD
Second Year Claire Achtyl accompanied by Carter and Donna Hudgins explore the scenic Irish countryside during the summer of 2015. The Team worked on analyzing mortar at Molana Abbey, which served as the focus of Claire’s Thesis.
Second Years Sarah Sanders, Shannon Devlin, and Lauren Hoopes brave the winter weather during their trip to Washington D.C. for Preservation Action’s Annual Lobby Day.
First year students, led by Assistant Professor Amalia Leifeste, visit the Seashore Farmers’ Lodge No. 767 on John’s Island as part of their spring Preservation Studio class.
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Second Years enjoy historic Savannah in the Fall of 2014 during their trip to the National Trust Conference.
A group of Second Year students pose in April following their thesis presentations at the South Carolina State Historic Preservation Conference in Columbia. First Year students visit Hampton Plantation with Professors Frances Ford and Moby Marks as part of their spring conservation class on a cold day in January.
First Year Jessica Fortney presents her class’ project on Pompion Hill Chapel of Ease at a landscapes conference in Savannah this spring.
Second Year students Jackie Don, Melanie Weston, and Frankie Pinto try their hands at historic metal working.
Second Years Claire Achtyl, Katie Dykens, Laura Lee Worrell, Frankie Pinto, and Alison Dunleavy pose for a photo during their summer trip to Genoa, Italy. The trip was organized by Professor Frances Ford and provided students with the opportunity to continue the documentation of a villa owned by Clemson University.
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ALUMNI NEWS 2008 WILL HAMILTON is Properties Coordinator for Historic Charleston Foundation where he is responsible for various technical projects at the museum houses and revolving fund properties. He recently coordinated repairs to HCF’s revolving fund property 35 Legare Street, a ca. 1790 Charleston single house, and the implementation of a new smoke and heat detection system and the installation of a lightning arrester system at the Aiken-Rhett House. JASON GRISMORE lives in Baton Rouge, LA, and is an Environmental Historic Preservation Specialist with FEMA, working under a Secondary Programmatic Agreement (2PA) with the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH). He works as part of a team of four historic preservation specialists conducting historic standing structure field surveys, documenting and photographing historic buildings, writing historic structure inventory reports and statements of significance in seven coastal counties in Mississippi. Prior to working for FEMA, Jason worked at URS Corporation doing Hurricane Katrina disaster recovery. 2009 MEAGAN BACO started as Director of Communications at Preservation Maryland, a new position at the organization based in Baltimore. She is a founding board member of Friends of the Greenbelt Theatre, a National Historic Landmark in Old Greenbelt, Maryland that will soon reopen as a non-profit movie theatre. 2010 KELLY CIOCIOLA is now Associate Conservator for Rosa Lowinger and Associates in Miami, FL. Her projects this year included research and testing on Miami’s Marine Stadium and assessing a mosaic at the Wellington building in Ottawa. In May, Kelly will present at a conference in Ferrara, Italy on case studies for the IBIX abrasive cleaning system. KIMBERLY MARTIN PURDY has been working as an archivist for the former CEO of Shell in Houston. Her team put together his WWII papers and wrote about his experiences during the war. She is currently working on his family papers. She and her husband adopted a dog named Penny and are expecting their first baby in July. KATE STAMPS lives in Huntsville, Alabama where she has worked as the architectural historian for Redstone Arsenal for the past five years. Kate’s office was recently presented
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with a Cultural Resources award from the U.S. Army and is nominated for a similar award from the Department of Defense. In addition to her work on the arsenal, Kate also serves on the Huntsville Historic Preservation Commission and volunteers with the Historic Huntsville Foundation by serving as the foundation’s web manager. 2011 SHELTON CONVERSE and his wife moved to Wilmington, NC where he has been taking drafting classes to brush up his AutoCAD skills and learn Revit while working for a homebuilder. He and his wife have joined Historic Wilmington Foundation and plan to get more involved with preservation efforts around town. LORA CUNNINGHAM has worked at Boeing South Carolina for three years as a Planner in Site Services. She leads the development of the Shared Services Group Long Range Business Plan and is the planning focal for the Aft Body manufacturing building and IT Centers project. She is also working on a corporate branding initiative preparing for Boeing’s Centennial Celebration in 2016. GRACE WASHAM is living in Asheville, North Carolina and working at a physical therapy clinic and doing faux graining on the side. She’s getting married this summer and has two charming cats, Cheezpuff and Ru. 2012 KATHERINE FERGUSON is now the Marketing Manager for MacRostie Historic Advisors LLC, a national leader in historic rehabilitation tax credits consulting with offices in Washington, D.C., Boston, Chicago, San Jose, CA, and Charleston. Katherine works with former MSHP adjunct faculty member Richard Sidebottom in the Charleston office to complete federal and state historic rehabilitation tax credit certification applications and National Register nominations. Current projects include the Cigar Factory in Charleston, the Pizitz Building in Birmingham, and historic mills and structures in and around Graniteville, SC. Katherine also continues to work on a film about Joe McGill’s Slave Dwelling Project. KELLY FINNIGAN left EHT Traceries in October 2014 and is now Associate Director for the Washington Program at Episcopal High School in Alexandria. Kelly serves on the Board of Architectural Review for Alexandria’s Old & Historic District, the Board of Trustees for the Historic Alexandria Foundation, and the Board of Directors for Preservation Action.
BRITTANY LAVELLE TULLA is owner of BVL Historic Preservation Research and is active in a wide range of projects including the nomination of Charleston as a World Heritage Site. Brittany is teaching as an adjunct in the College of Charleston’s undergraduate historic preservation and community planning program and recently started the Young Preservationists of Charleston, a diverse group of young residents who advocate for the history of Charleston and a healthy future. All are welcome! JOSEPH REYNOLDS recently moved to Portland, ME, and started a furniture building company that specializes in reusing salvaged building materials. MARIAH SCHWARTZ is the Director of Commissioning Services at Whole Building Systems and is a CxA, recently passing the ACG Certified Commissioning Authority exam. She continues to volunteer on the ASHRAE committee that is writing their Energy Guideline for Historical Buildings and Structures. DAVID WIERICK moved to Chicago and accepted a position with the architectural firm Klein and Hoffman. Before leaving Albany, David worked on a wide range of projects including a comprehensive restoration of All Saints Ashmont, a church designed by Ralph Adams Cram and constructed in phases (1893-1917) in Boston and an exterior conditions assessment of the Vanderbilt Mansion in Hyde Park, NY. 2013 CHARLOTTE CAUSEY married Nicholas Smith at St. Michael’s Church on April 11, 2015. EMILY FORD owns and operates Oak and Laurel Cemetery Preservation, LLC, in New Orleans and is working as a consultant for Save Our Cemeteries, a preservation nonprofit. She continues to research historic craftsmen and stonecutters and is pursuing a publication on this topic. Like all New Orleaneans, she likes it when folks come visit. NEALE NICKELS left his job as Mount Vernon’s Architectural Conservator, got married at Westover plantation, and moved to Atlanta to join his wife Courtney. He is now Director of Preservation for Historic Oakland Foundation, a friends organization that supports the conservation of Historic Oakland Cemetery, and has started a business, Virginia Preservation Group, which he says keeps him busy on weekends.
Tax Increment Financing. She reports that she is buying a house, adopting a golden retriever, and preparing her cat Alvin for transitions. AMY ELIZABETH UEBEL is teaching at the American College of the Building Arts and offered an advanced conservation course this fall for the MSHP program that assessed current conditions of Battery Wagner at Fort Moultrie. She continues to work at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center. DANIEL WATTS completed his master’s in Urban and Environmental Planning at the University of Virginia in 2014 after completing funded research in Ghana where he researched and mapped sites of cultural and historical significance. In October of 2014 he began working for the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission as a data and mapping administrator. 2014 KENDY ALTIZER is finishing up her second semester in the Anthropology PhD program at the University of Tennessee where she is a Teaching Assistant. She found time to work for Brockington and Associates in Charleston and the Archaeological Research Lab in Knoxville. She remains engaged with Peachtree Plantation and presented papers about the plantation at the Southeastern Archaeological Conference in Greenville, SC and the Southeastern Historical Sites Conference in Stone Mountain, GA. LINDSEY LEE has been working at Arcadia Publishing but will move to Raleigh where her fiancé will begin medical school at Campbell University. LEIGH SCHOBERTH moved to St. Paul Minnesota for a job as an architectural historian with 106 Group, Inc. She also adopted a cat. His name is Louie (named for Louis Sullivan, of course). MEGAN FUNK moved home to Kentucky in January 2015 and began working with Georgetown Main Street as their Executive Director. Since then, the organization has kept her busy coordinating downtown improvements with business owners and city officials, and planning downtown events. LINDSAY LANOIS began working as an architectural historian with History Inc. in Nashville, TN. She was married in April.
REBECCA QUANDT moved to McMinnville, Oregon on June 1, 2014 to take a job as the Promotions and Marketing Director for the McMinnville Downtown Association. Parade Magazine voted McMinnville the second best main street in the US. Rebecca credits her hiring to her experience with
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Graduate Program in Historic Preservation Clemson University/College of Charleston 292 Meeting Street Charleston, SC 29401